Which guns are now banned in Canada? Here's what you need to know

Canada is expanding its federal ban on firearms, adding 324 makes and models of guns to the prohibited weapons list, effective immediately.

Here's what you need to know:

What kinds of guns are being banned?

The new additions to the prohibited weapons list include what Public Safety Canada calls "Assault-Style Firearms" (ASFs), which include semi-automatic action (a mechanism that at-least partially reloads the gun after each shot to prepare to fire the next one), sustained rapid-fire capabilities and features such as a large magazine capacity.

While other kinds of ASFs have been banned in the past, these new additions include particular makes and models of guns not covered in previous bans. Public Safety says 104 "families" of weapons are included in the expansion to the prohibited list.

A searchable list for the ban expansion is embedded below.

Viewing this article on Apple News? Read the full list here.

What happens if I own a banned gun?

Attached to Thursday's expanded bans is an amnesty period to allow individuals and businesses time to turn over the prohibited weapons to police, participate in a federal buyback program or through other specified means.

Participants in the buyback program are compensated for their surrendered firearms. While it is currently only available to Canadian businesses, Public Safety says that a pathway for individual gun owners to participate is forthcoming, and that gun licensees will be notified some time next year.

Owners who lawfully possessed the firearms before the bans are protected from criminal liability for the duration of the period, which will run until Oct. 30, 2025. Additional considerations for Indigenous peoples and those who hunt for sustenance apply.

You can learn more about the buyback program and amnesty period here. 

Why are these new bans happening?

This week's expansion comes after a May 2020 move from the federal government to ban 1,500 gun makes and models, itself following a deadly mass shooting in Portapique, N.S. earlier that year.

Thursday's announcement also coincides with this week's 35th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.

A Thursday release from Public Safety Canada notes that, as of last month, the total of prohibited ASFs was over 2,000 models and variants.

"Firearms designed for the battlefield plainly do not belong in our communities. Too often, these types of weapons have been used to commit some of the worst atrocities Canada has ever witnessed," Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in the release.

"That’s why since 2015, we’ve done more than any previous government on gun control, and why we’re pursuing further action today – to ensure that Canada never again experiences a mass shooting.” 

With files from CTV News' Rachel Aiello